One of my Chasing Value picks is flying high this morning on no company news. Several months ago, I posted Chasing Value: Anglo American (AAUK) - Inflation hedge & more when the stock was $24.65 a share. Today as I write, it is up over almost 19%, reaching an intra-day high of $38.75.

So what gives? That's a big jump, and there must be something going on. So here is the picture as I see it. Yesterday, the Dow closed down 360 points, followed by Asian markets dropping overnight across the board, with the dollar continuing to sink and oil continuing to rise. Then to top it all off, we wake up this morning to Doug McIntyre's BHP Billiton, world's largest miner, offers to buy rival, so mining stocks are in play. Anyone interested in gold? Silly question I know.

Anglo American is not just a precious metals miner. It is a major player in diamonds, coal and paper; plus it is diversified around the world. Just being outside the U.S. makes it a hedge against the dollar. So if it is possible to fly underground -- then AAUK is doing it!

Disclosure: I own shares of AAUK (still eating my own cooking).

Sheldon Liber is the CEO of a small private investment company and the principal for design and research at an architecture & planning firm.

Chasing Value: Anglo American (AAUK) flying deep below the earth originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 08 Nov 2007 12:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.